Dangerous driver who should ‘never be on public road again’ has 20-year ban halved

A dangerous driver who, according to a judge, should never be allowed behind the wheel “on a public road” again has had his 20-year driving ban halved by the Court of Appeal.

A judge had described the overtaking manoeuvre which saw Martin Feehan’s car crash into oncoming traffic as “truly scandalous”. His passenger, then 40-year-old Brid Hallihan, suffered a broken pelvis and spent months in hospital from injuries sustained after the multiple vehicle pile-up on the main Mallow-to-Cork road at Granagh, Co Cork, on February 16th, 2015.

Prosecutors claimed Feehan had been driving his Citroen Berlingo too fast when the overtaking lane he was travelling in merged with a slower lane. As a result he lost control of his vehicle, which then careered across the carriageway and into traffic travelling in the opposite direction, prosecutors claimed

Feehan (42) of Killaltanagh, Banagher on the Galway-Offaly border, was later charged with dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm, a charge he had denied.

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A jury found him guilty and he was given a three-year suspended sentence and a 20-year driving ban by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin following a trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in February 2020.

In March at the Court of Appeal, Feehan failed to have his conviction overturned but he also applied to have his driving ban of 20 years overturned due to its length.

On Friday at the three-judge court, Feehan’s lawyers claimed the ban was “excessive” and was close to a “lifetime ban” for a man already in his 40s who had suffered depression. Siobhán Lankford SC, for Feehan, said the mandatory ban on dangerous driving was four years. She said there were no aggravating factors such as drink-driving or holding a mobile phones.

Ms Lankford said the sole aggravating factor was the driving itself. Ms Lankford said there was no “unfitness of character” evidence present to prevent her client from driving for such a length of time but he had been naive in the witness box.

Presiding judge Mr Justice George Birmingham said it appeared that Feehan could not see or accept what he had done wrong during his trial.

Jane Hyland BL, for the Minister for Justice, said Judge Ó Donnabháin was a “very experienced judge with considerable experience” who acted to “protect the public from this kind of driving”.

Ms Lankford said the ban was “far and above outside of the norm” and quoted previous bans, including one case that caused the death of a person but only resulted in a 10-year ban. Mr Justice Birmingham said the court would quash the 20-year ban and substitute a 10-year ban, backdating it to the date of Feehan’s sentence.